On the lighter side-Movies- Radius (2017)

An amnesiac man has a strange affect of causing death whenever he is near to humans. Interesting concept but okay execution. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies- Skybound (2017)

A plane bound for the west coast from the East coast is unable to land due to some mysterious disaster happening in the United States. Good mystery movie. Recommende with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Rendel (2017)-Finland

A Finnish superhero fights a criminal organization. Sometimes it seems they are talking in German. Slow moving and the hero is also not that super. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies- Bright (2017)-Will Smith

In an alternative world where mythical creatures live with humans, a human cop along with his mythical partner tries to protect a super weapon. Big budget cast and okay action movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-The Emoji Movie (2017)-Animated

An emoji who does not fit with other single dimensional emojis sets out to become a normal one. Not enjoyable. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Kidnap (2017)-Halle Berry

A mother pursues her son’s kidnapper relentlessly. A tense action movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Smurfs: The lost village (2017)-Animated

Smurfs discover a new territory of lost Smurfs. Cute little animated movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Rough Night (2017)-Scarlett Johansson

When a party of girls having a good time kills a male stripper, they try to hide their crime. Some preposterous action with few laughs. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Beauty and the Beast (2017)-Emma Watson

Disney ® live action movie about a beautiful girl who falls in love with a enchanted beast who happens to be a prince. Excellent movie. Highly Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-All about for the Money (2016)

There desperate people try to reverse their fortune by trying to capture the most wanted drug lord in South America. Forgettable movie. Not Recommended

Another terrorist attack in New York City

A few days ago, a terrorist allegedly tried to detonate a pipe bomb near the biggest bus terminal and subway station of the country, injuring four people and also injuring himself and in the process getting caught. The alleged suspect told police that he was inspired by Islamic State (IS) propaganda and wanted to harm as much people as possible and that he acted alone in its name. He had a wife and a six month old son in Bangladesh from where he immigrated to the U.S. in 2016. Apparently he did not give a crap about his family and only wanted to create harm to innocent people because he was supposedly angry about some U.S. policies against Muslims. This kind of lone wolf attacker is hard to catch because they can be anyone out there doing regular jobs but in the spare time maybe plotting attacks against everyday normal people.

On top of this, the family of the suspect says it is outraged about the investigators tactics as one of the relatives of 16 year old was taken out of high school and questioned without the presence of a lawyer. Apart of this the family is saddened and devastated about the whole event. But are they truly saddened or just pissed off that now the whole inquiry will be focused on them and they will have trouble in the future to bring their more family members in and their whole life history is going to be scrutinized. I don’t want to be nasty about it but enough of these lone wolf pledges to IS group and enough of shedding ignorance and being innocent in the whole process. If these so called Muslims want to be integrated to the western society and still maintain their ways, they have to come forward and provide assistance to law enforcement authorities right away instead of ignore the problem in their midst.

NOTE: Now your opinions can be heard here. Send you post to infinipinions@gmail.com and it will be uploaded to this blog with only your initials as submitted by.

On the lighter side-Movies-Free Fire (2016)

An abandoned warehouse becomes a scenic of bloodbath between rival gangs. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-The Shack (2017)-Sam Worthington

A grieving man gets a chance to meet god in this absurd and unbelievable but feel good movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighters side-Movies-Death Note: Light up the new world (2016-Japan)

A mysterious notebook has the ability to give death to people whose name is written on it. Interesting movie. Recommended

On the lighters side-Movies-Ghost in the Shell (2017)-Scarlett Johansson

In the near future, a human tries to save the world from a new form of terrorism. Not the exact future that you will envision but interesting concept. Recommended

Jerusalem as Capital of Israel-2

Now look at the reaction that the so called Islamic world did. They called a meeting of the ineffective OIC (organization of Islamic countries) and declared their so called solidarity with the Palestinians which means it is not going to do anything except put out words backed by nothing concrete. There are so called 57 Countries in the ineffective OIC and they are more concentrated at containing Iran than in dealing with Israel. Even some so called Islamic countries in their hatred for Shiite Iran deal clandestinely with Israel. The matter of Jerusalem being the capital of Israel is just not the important in the Islamic or for that matter Arab national as they are at each other’s neck trying to sabotage whatever little unity they have based on a shared religion (or is it really). Even if the United States hadn’t declared it the capital of Israel, Israel always believed it was and it knew that the Arabs and the Muslim cannot do anything about that claim.

At the end of the day it is the Palestinians (with some help from Iran and maybe Turkey) will be doing the heavy lifting of protesting and confronting Israel as the wealthy Islamic nations and close ally of the United States can’t do anything since this conflict started many decades ago. Word of condemnation not followed by any action is useless and looking by the situation in the so called Islamic world, it is entirely believable that Palestinians will be subject to Israeli laws and the concept of two nation theory, which I never subscribed too before and neither did any of the Islamic nations will be just a dream forever.

Jerusalem as Capital of Israel

The United States after several decades’ long policy decided that it is time to recognize that Jerusalem is and will remain the Capital of Israel notwithstanding the outcry by the Muslim world and the warnings by its allies that it will create new unrest in the Middle East. And as it was predicted, the most noise has been coming from the Palestinians themselves with some pockets in other so called Muslim and Arab countries as these countries know that they cannot do anything except to protest silently. These so called Islamic countries are fighting among themselves and they don’t have the stamina or the strength or the military might to do anything about this decision. Obviously there was going to some violence and it will continue and it will surely embolden the jihadi elements but beyond the movement of the embassy will take years to do it and it is just a symbolic gesture by only one country.

This decision was not made out of blue but was one of the core campaign pledges of the current President, so people should not have been surprised about it as the President is elected by the American people and when he promised to fulfill his pledge, there should not have been any surprise element to it since the President has to go back to the American people to get elected the second time and he will be judged by how he has fulfilled his campaign pledge not by how the world reaction is to his decision.

On the lighter side-Movies-Unlocked (2017)-Noomi Rapace

A CIA agent tries to prevent a terrorist attack in London. Good action movie with good cast. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Going in Style (2017)-Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman

A group of retired people decide to rob a bank in order to save their pensions and retirement funds in this remake of the 1979 movie. Enjoyable. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)-Charles Hunnam

A future king fights for his lost throne. Lots of action and spectable. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Alien: Covenant (2017) - Michael Fassbender

A crew of a ship tries to escape a dangerous planet. Good time killer, if you want to keep a count of the story line, watch it. Recommended with caution

Immigration hits a sour note

Since the unorganized immigrant opening in Germany the last two years, the world has woken up to being sour on the whole issue of Immigration, legal or illegal. The world and especially the west has become tired of allowing immigration and in the disguise of being tired have allowed the virus of racism to wake up again whether they realize it or not. I can understand that the war in Syria has created an avalanche of refugees fleeing it but in the disguise of refugees, there were some unscrupulous elements taking advantage of the situation and trying to creating havoc in their host counties. And it is these elements that have made the trek of future refugees a lot harder. The German decision to open up its border to more than one million refugees was not a wise decision as it has created an era of hostility among local people and has given rise to far right and ultra nationalist in those countries.

If it is was possible, Germany should have gradually opened up its border and increased it intakes of refugees slowly and incrementally so there is no backlash against them in their countries. Even if the host countries (namely European) population are falling, still they do not want refugees who have a different, religion, race and ethnicity overwhelming their cities in such vast numbers and as the number of terror incidents have shown that even if there has been no terrorist among the refugees, the fact that the long wait to have legal status and staying in camps with inadequate facilities can make even the most patient person resort to desperate measures like attacking other people because he/she don’t see his/her situation improving anytime soon due to the long backlog of having legal statues. The unrelenting refugees crisis from poor African countries and central and Latin American countries have created a backlash in their host countries for even the legal immigration. But I fear that the lure of earning a decent living without a fear of violence or crime and stable economies of the rich countries will always have the attraction of the downtrodden. 
NOTE: Now your post can be uploaded on this site. Just send it to the email address infinipinions@gmail.com and it will be posted.

The puzzle of illegal immigration

I have been reading news about how people who have been here illegally for the last two or three decades and have been the so called model citizen are being arrested and deported back to their home countries and some Americans have been protesting this because the illegal have not done anything wrong or have not even any traffic offenses and they did not commit any crime. This false sense of hope was given to them courtesy of the Obama Administration in which law enforcement was instructed to go after illegal immigrants who have committed a crime and have ignored deportation orders. But the decades old residents also have several appeals pending in the immigration courts and they ignored them as I previously said they felt secure that they if they work hard and don’t break the rules, they will not be deported. I can understand that some of the people are upset about some outstanding people who have married and raised their families and build their lives are being deported.

My puzzlement comes to the fact that people who have been here illegally for thirty years what were the waiting for to get their legal status and it was far easier when they came here. I don’t know people’s situation but it is really a big mystery for me that they married here, had kids, establish businesses but did not bother to become legal citizens when they could have during the previous times. Sympathy aside, all the rallies in support of these long time illegal residents fails to ask this simple question, why you did not bother to regularize your stay here and become legal citizens when you had more than twenty years (on average) to do it?
NOTE: Now your post can be uploaded on this site. Just send it to the email address infinipinions@gmail.com and it will be posted.

NISA empowerment:much needed

Growing up as an Asian female child is like "survival of the fittest"! i was raised up as a perfect example of, “the strong, independent women “but then LIFE HAPPENED.I got to know that people all around us don't want women to be powerful or independent, the words were; women are supposed to be 'timid,shy,vulnerable,nervous,faint hearted,pusillianamious and worst of all 'QUEEN OF THE KITCHEN'.I mean women don't have liberty for anything here in Asian countries(especially the developing countries),those who stand up to do anything are called ill-names and are criticized to such an extent that women in the rural areas in my country are being killed in NAME OF HONOUR.i have seen scenarios of maltreatment given to women in various parts of the world, but situation here is dire and requires SERIOUS AND PROFESSIONAL attention, an example of this is : two days back a women was killed just because she committed the crime of not serving her husband with warm, delicious meal. Let’s take another example from real life a patient of mine came with head bandage on her cranium,when interrogated it was found out that she was beaten by her mother-in-law, reason being, she served the family with under cooked food. These are just a few examples. CRUX OF THE MATTER is that my country requires women empowerment because of this malevolent mentality and strong ill-beliefs of people, women are deprived of basic right to education, carrying out a professional careers and many other acceptable rights to life.
NEED OF THE HOUR is, I need suggestions to implement strong steps for providing women with the basic rights. What would you do if you were one of the few privileged women; living in such circumstances???
Post Submitted by M.S.

On the lighter side-Movies- The west and the ruthless (2017)

An assorted bunch of people end up fighting for their lives in a small western town. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Dead Again In Tombstone (2017)-Danny Trejo

A man returns from the dead to protect a relic from falling into wrong hands. Okay western movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies Happy Hunting (2017)

An alcoholic man tries to survive a human hunting game in dead end town. Nothing special. Not Recommended

The Egyptian slaughter

A few days ago a suicide attack was made on a jam packed mosque mostly frequented by Sufi Sunni Branch of Islam and a bomb was detonated and then some people started firing indiscriminating culminating in killing more than 300 people and injuring hundreds. It was the deadliest bombing in the modern Egyptian history and I was also a little bit surprised by the ferocity of the attack as it was on mosque packed by prayers who were not doing anything but to pray to the same GOD that the attackers supposedly prays too. Although I don’t believe there have been any claims of responsibility but it is expected that it is the Islamic State (IS) who think that Sufi Muslims are heretics and are not Muslims. Anyway it was a horrendous act of violence but it not big enough to register some action by the international community. It seems that the international community is happy to see Muslims slaughter each other as long as the violence does not affect the European Community and the Americas and other non Muslims nations. It is only my opinion but I was also believe that Muslims have also become indifferent to the violence that is occurring among their midst as the mind becomes numb to daily violence being happening and also the divide among the Islamic sects increase. My condolences to all who perished in this terrorist attack and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured people.

On the lighter side-Movies-The lost city of Z (2017)-Charles Hunnam

Based on a true story about a British explorer who disappears in the Amazon while searching for an advanced society. Overly long movie and you have to be patient in order to complete it as it repeats itself one time too many. Not Recommended

Cases of Sexual harassment keep piling up

Since the first allegations surfaced, more and more women (and men) have come forward with allegations of sexual harassment that they endured decades ago accusing mostly celebrities of taking advantage of their vulnerabilities and the power that the suspected sexual predators held over them. Some have acknowledged while most of them have denied it very strongly but nonetheless more and more women are coming forward and it becomes hard to deny every allegations which happened decades ago. A surprising list of who’s who in the world of entertainment and other areas are being dragged into this mess which seems to suggest that (mostly) women are not going to take this sexual harassment anymore and they are going to fight back even if occurred decades ago. Right now it is limited to celebrities because that is what sells news but I really wonder how many ordinary women would want to go after ordinary men with whom they have no hope of receiving any attention from sympathetic quarters as I am sure there may be millions of cases out there where ordinary women are suffering in silence for the unwanted sexual harassment they may have in the past or are enduring now in the present. Now I just read that in the airline industry, sexual harassment is pervasive but people don’t come out since they need their jobs and also it seems normal. I am not the right person to highlight sexual harassment in the workplace or any place for that matter so I encourage everybody who have stories to tell but were afraid to speak out to email me at infinipinions@gmail.com and I will upload it on this blog with only the initials of your name or even stating submitted anonymously so that your voices can be heard and this type of behavior is lessened if not stopped completely. Please include in the subject of the email, the title of your post.

The coming U.S. Tax overhaul

As details keep on emerging about the new U.S. tax overhaul, the more I am beginning to less like it and even hate it as the party of cutting taxes is going to increase it no matter how you see it, even if some people (read: Republicans) make it sound like it is a tax cut. Since it is not finalized yet, I would like to point out that I as a temporary worker (who wants to work full time) does not like the fact that state and local taxes and also mortgage interest deduction would be eliminated and instead of it, we will have the super luxury of having our standard deduction doubled to 24k (I don’t do standard deduction so that is why I am screwed in this sense). For the people living in high taxes states, this is going to raise taxes (even if tax rate go down a bit). The saving grace is the house version of the bill which includes the property tax deduction to 10k but since both the house and senate version have to be merged into one bill, it is premature to say how much the middle class will get screwed ultimately but yeah they will be screwed especially if the property tax is eliminated which means everybody who supposedly owns a house will have to pay tax on the property tax bill even if it is a 1k but they may have a saving grace if they include it as a standard deduction. Too many complications but let’s wait for the final version to see what is in store for the citizens.

On the lighter side-Movies-Bluebeard (2017-Korea)

A small town doctor starts suspecting that his landlord maybe a serial killer. Somewhat confusing right up to the last moment but interesting nonetheless. Recommended with caution

The Afghan Conflict visited again

Lately there has been increased activity in the number of attacks by the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) against the coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. Since the new U.S. administration came in, their policy is becoming more hard line against the forces opposing the Afghan government including Pakistan. Some estimated 3000 more forces are being sent to Afghanistan to bolster the forces there amid the increasing anger aimed at Pakistan which according to the United States has failed to control forces of Taliban based there to halt the attacks. Although Pakistan says that it is doing all it can to control its borders and says that its influence with the Taliban leaderships is not as much but the U.S. does not seem to buying that for now at least (if ever). The thing that I don’t understand that why the Candidate Trump who wanted to pull of the forces from Afghanistan has now decided that it wants to send more to that area with no end in sight on their tour of duty. It seems that America’s longest war is becoming more longer and there seems to be no solution in sight. Pakistan’s complicity in this situation cannot be denied but to blame entirely this continuing conflict on them is not fair as Taliban and IS has become increasingly brazen in conducting suicide attacks. I don’t think that both sides of the conflict are willing to sit down and reach a negotiated settlement and it is the innocent people in this conflict who are being targeted. A steady drawdown of foreign forces should be the most desirable situation and security handed over to the Afghan forces which must have been trained by now to defend their country. But by the looks of what the Afghan forces would do without the foreign forces, the signs are not encouraging. And so the conflict goes on. NOTE: Now you can submit your posts at infinipinions@gmail.com and I can upload it on this blog

On the lighter side-Movies-Axeman 2: Overkill (2017)

A horrible horror movie as a desperate group of people is confronted with the title killer. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Baby Driver (2017)-Kevin Spacey

A young getaway driver with hearing problems tries to get away from his criminal life in this exciting and sometimes violent crime movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 (2017-Canada)

A French speaking Canadian and an English speaking Canadian team up in this sequel, this time tracking a car theft ring. Okay action comedy. Recommended with caution

The kneeling Controversy

Lately there have been lots of controversies regarding the kneeling of athletes during the United States national anthem to highlight the social injustices that are mostly endured by African Americans. The kneeling has been going on with now dwindling number of athletes doing it and it has angered many white folks who either don’t approve of it or are bothered by the fact that it has become a distraction of the whole purpose of enjoying the game that they were looking forward to. Even the President has also jumped into the controversy calling for the firing of the athletes who disrespect the flag of the United States and the country. Now it has become a racial divide as whites are against the kneeling while African Americans are for it somewhat. I keep on saying African Americans since there are so few Asians and Hispanics sometimes fall into the category of white and non white so the players who have been kneeling have been overwhelmingly African Americans. Although I as a neutral observer of what is going on believes in the free speech of the players to highlight social injustices but there is a forum and place for everything and I don’t think that a stadium can be that place. You can still stand for the national anthem and fight for racial equality and protest racial injustices but the player ready to provide their loyal fans with a competitive game should do it outside the stadium. As this kneeling controversy has not have the intended reaction that the players who were kneeling were expecting, and I believe it has done the opposite by harming their cause as most people are seeing it as disrespecting the flag and country for which many people have fought for. People should fight the system in which they are working and not the flag as it has anything to do with what the country is all about. And as I said before, there is a time and place for everything and the stadium was not the place to do it.

A New Feature

Actually it is not a new feature but an extension of my blog. Since I can only post so much and have opinions on only so many things, I have decided to open my blog to other people’s opinions. It will work like this; anybody can send me a blog post, be it an opinion on a movie, some travel site, not happy about something or anything which comes to your mind and you have an opinion on it. You will send it with your full name to the email address infinipinions@gmail.com and I will after checking the post to make sure it does not contain any profanity or discriminatory post against any ethnic group or race, religion, since I want to keep my blog free from any hatred and violent content. And after that I will post it and at the end of the post will write “submitted by”. Please specify if you want me to use submitted by anonymous or the first initials of your first and last name (but your full name must be mentioned in your email which should be a legitimate email address). You can send me anything which does is not plagiarized from other sites and any pictures and videos which are not in violation of any copyright. I will download on my computer and then upload on infinipinions.com. All you posts and pictures and videos will be stored on my computer so you don’t need to worry about any privacy issues. As it I am starting this now, please be patient with me as I will have to read the post and then upload it so there maybe some lag time initially, until such time the posts becomes big enough that I may make enough money to hire someone to do this with me. I hope you will send me as much posts as possible in order to grow this blog and open it furthermore.

On the lighter side-Movies-Baywatch (2017)-Dwayne Johnson

Big screen adaptation of the TV series in which the guards discover a plot that threatens the future of the bay. Although it was okay as I never watched the TV shows, but it was all about the nice bodies that you see all over TV. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Armed Response (2017)-Anne Heche, Wesley Snipes

When an elite team of military operatives are trapped in a building after its main computer shuts down, they fight for their lives and try to discover what killed their predecessors. Nice action movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Assassin’s Creed (2016)-Michael Fassbender

A man becomes a master assassin to take on the secret templar society in this video game adaptation. Good action sequences. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-The Hunter’s Prayer (2017)-Sam Worthington

A hit man hired to kill a target discovers that he can’t do it setting off a chain of events in which he and his target becomes the target themselves. Good action movie. Recommended with caution.

Catalonia declaration of independence

Now I come to the recent declaration of independence by Catalonia and the subsequent collapse of their bid. Catalonians were getting increasingly frustrated by what they saw a wealth grab by the Federal government and also thought that since they were the wealthier side, they needed to break away and have their own independent nation. With nobody outside their own boundaries willing to recognize or help them gain independence, this was bound to fail. The European Union with their own problems of separatist tendencies in places like Italy where the Northern league wants to secede from the rest of Italy and in Belgium where the Flanders want to have their own nation accusing the French south of taking their wealth to the Scottish bid to go its own way, this vote was not going to bring any joy to the European Union and hence the European union did not back it. The Unites States did not want to back it either since they would have been losing a strong NATO ally and for the reasons mentioned above. All this separatist tendencies are done by wealthier regions of their respective countries who feel that the southern part of their countries are not working hard enough to better their lives and also want to have a distinct identify based on their wealth, language and culture. But if this was the criteria to follow in any bid for independence, there would be hundred more countries as ethnic rivalry will heat up almost everywhere there is a huge gap of rich and poor regions. It is time to take a step back and resolve the issues behind all these separatist bids in a democratic manner.

The Kurdish vote for Independence-2

Furthermore the Kurds would have no military to defend their borders which are for now not clearly defined. And as soon as the independence vote was declared a success, the Iraqi initially warned the Kurds to rescind the vote and then swiftly send its armed forces and militias to get control of federal areas and Kurds swiftly withdrew their militias without engaging the Iraqi federal forces as the United States and the West looked the other way. And Israeli decision to back the Independence of Kurds for reason of its own (primarily I presume as a buffer between itself and other Israel hating countries) was not a very wise decision as it exposed the Kurds to accusations that they are backed by Israeli money. I am also baffled by how the Kurds Political establishment fooled their own people to believe that independence would be that easy. There have been reports also of infighting among the two main Kurds political parties which led to this disastrous decision. The Kurds had already great autonomy in running their part of the Iraqi land and everything was going on smoothly until this Independence vote. Their victories in the battlefield got into their heads that they can claim for independence and all the other neighboring countries with problems of their own would ignore it and leave them alone. Somebody really botched or I should screw up this whole independence bid. There should have been incremental pressure for the buildup of their desire to have their own homeland and convincing other hostile nations to support their bid. Now it will take a longer time to realize their dream.

The Kurdish vote for Independence

As the war against the Islamist terrorist organization ISIS winds down, the Kurdish in their bid to cash on their goodwill with the United States thought that this might be the right time to vote for independence. And despite the opposition from United States and almost every other country including with sizeable Kurdish populations of their own like Iran and turkey and Syria (except for Israel for reasons of their own, decided to go ahead and have a referendum for seceding from Iraq and create their own homeland which they never had. Very bad idea and wrong timing were the main culprits. What got into the head of the Kurdish political leaders that with the United States backing they will be able to pull off this independence without a hitch? Although a long standing dream of the Kurdish people as they have been waiting for a nearly a hundred years for the own homeland, it is not as simple as they thought it would be. Even if the Kurds thought that with the backing of the United States which used them to defeat ISIS, the forces against them were already stacked. Turkey, Iran and Syria would never agree to Kurd State. Iraq where this referendum started despite being in turmoil would not be in any mood to divide their country. You see nobody wants to divide their country and it was naïve on the part of the Kurds to believe that by having just a vote on independence they will be able to create their homeland which would have been landlocked and their oil pipeline on which they would have gotten their revenue goes through Turkey which would have shut down the pipeline immediately.

On the lighter side-Movies-Seoul Station (2016-Korea)-Animated

Several people try to survive a zombie apocalypse in Seoul, Korea. Recommended with caution Korean animated horror.

On the lighter side-Movies-Doctor Strange (2016)-Benedict Cumberbatch

A neurosurgeon discovers mystical powers and helps protect earth from evil. Recommended Marvel/Disney movie.

On the lighter side-Movies-Raw (2017)-Belgian-French

A vegetarian tastes meat for the first time and enjoys it in this weird and disturbing movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Black Butterfly (2017)-Antonio Banderas

In a small town plagued by murders and disappearances a secluded writer rescues a stranger who then muscles in on his life and threatens his isolated life. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Escape Room (2017)

A popular game regarding escaping from a room becomes a death trap for four people when one of the game objects is possessed by demon. Not worth your time. Not recommended

Is seeing really believing?-2

Then there a ready army of people who are busy debunking stories that are in the bible like they have nothing else to do with their time. The lost ark of Noah, was it ever made and where it landed ultimately, the parting of the red sea, did it really happen and where is the scientific evidence, the story of Lot, the walking on water of Jesus Christ, people who were not there and trying to justify their theories as if they have to see in order to believe and I am afraid, even if they see it, they will not let go of their long held preconceived theories since it will shatter whatever life they have revolving around those theories and beliefs. I, for one do not have the time or do not adhere to such conspiracy theories since either I was not there in the first place and second there are some things you really have to believe even if you have not seen it or were born after that event happened. But the interesting point is that I have not come across conspiracy theories regarding hurricane sandy, Harvey, Irma, Maria to name a few. If conspiracy theorists are consistent then the above hurricane should always have their own league of conspiracy or maybe I have not come across one loud enough to warrant my attention. These people who chose to obviously question or provide alternative ideas of what really happened to a event shows me that there are people out there who have the money or are supported by rich people who are themselves part of this fringe groups. Anyway if there are more outlandish conspiracy theories that are created overnight, I will surely write about them.

Is seeing really believing?

Conspiracy theories abound and there is surprisingly good number of people believing in them. There is a whole market out there who believes in these sometimes good and sometimes absurd theories to fit their world view. Some are borderline hilarious and some are hurtful to some people but nonetheless, they have an audience of which cannot be denied their existence. If a person does not happen to be in a certain place and they are suspicious about the news coming out of some authority, they would go out of their way to debunk that news even if it happens in front of their faces. I can just give you some examples to illustrate my point (which I have also done in my blog before but these are really the latest addition to the conspiracy theories vault). Besides the one where the lone gunman killed more than 20 elementary school kids, now there is a new breed of conspiracy theorists who believe that the world is flat, the Las Vegas Massacre did not occur as they were crisis actors and the world is flat. Curiously I have not come across any conspiracy theory regarding the non happening of the Hurricane Harvey to hit Houston and Florida or the Hurricane Maria which hit badly the Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico. Why is this, I have no clue about how the conspiracy theorists believe one and do not believe the other one. Another one is the about 9/11 despite many years, it still is a mystery for some people who believe in different versions of non existence or coincidental events to make their case. Recently the files on JFK killing was released but it did not rest the case for some conspiracy theorists and they still have wild guesses of who killed John F. Kennedy.

On the lighter side-Movies-Chips (2017) - Dax Shepard, Michael Pena

Big screen adaption of the 1970s TV show where a rookie cop joins with another undercover cop investigating crooked cops. Foul mouthed and not enjoyable. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies- Cult of Chucky (2017)

A woman admitted to a psyche ward tries to convince the staff and other patients that it is chucky who is doing the killing in their institution. Better than before and enjoyable. Recommended with caution

The Hitler Phenomenon

Despite the passage of a considerable period of time (72 years to be exact), the fascination with Hitler or the ideals for which he stood for is still alive and well and have even been enhanced in some parts of the world. The white nationalist movement already claims him as their leader in more ways than one and even the people whose ancestors were annihilated by this invading army have embraced him not knowing their own history. Even people whom he would have loathed to be even breathing air in the same place knowingly or unknowingly become fascinated by him and do stuff in places that they are not supposed to do. A few months ago, a Chinese man was arrested in Germany because he gave a Hitler salute for a photo, apparently out of ignorance or just to capture a moment, he forgot to check the laws of Germany where anything related to Hitler and his ideas are banned. Another guy was punched when he gave a Hitler salute somewhere else. Some White people in countries who had suffered at the hands of Hitler invading armies in Poland, Eastern Europe, Russia have made Hitler their ideal just because he supposedly stood for the white people but which in fact he wanted to subjugate even white people who did not follow his command. People need to read the history before committing themselves to or admiring a person known internationally as being the killer of millions of human beings.

Electric vs. Gas powered vehicles

I will say this upfront that I am not a big fan or even a fan of electric cars which have now become the darling of the car industry and becoming popular enough that one country has decided to go all out for the electric cars with another one not much behind in order to reduce the so called carbon efforts released in the air. My concerns are although very premature early in the advent of electric cars is the scarcity of charging stations, there are not enough or even very few charging stations along the route that I travel and even if I travel far I have not seen that much. Furthermore the time it takes to charge a car takes anywhere between one and one half hour (I may be wrong or off by some minutes) as compared to gasoline cars which takes five minutes to fill up. As you all know time is money, so what do you do when you will be charging your car? I have not seen any gas stations being a hangout area and there is no example of what charging stations would look like. In case of gas powered powers, you can fill to whatever amount you want to fill, how about the charging stations, would you be able to fill to a certain amount. Also electric cars are now expensive as compared to gas powered and even putting in the tax breaks you get when you buy one (in the U.S. I mean) they are still more expensive. Unless there are no gas powered cars produced and it becomes mandatory to buy an electric car, I don’t see myself driving one in my lifetime.

Free Speech and hate speech-2

I can understand that most of the people will be upset with what the white supremacists, alt right and neo Nazi will preach in the name of free speech but in their zeal to drown out any voice that negates their world view, there has been increasing efforts not to give space to the above mentioned people and thus stifle the free speech that is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. I know some speech will hurt the feeling of some people or even majority of people but that does not mean we ban the speech and stifle free exchange of information and ideas, if you want to fight hate speech with hate speech of your own by banning the opposite view, you are also committing hate speech. In a free society like the U.S. if you don’t like what other person is saying, you have to come up with your own speech to counter their argument, not resort to banning what they person has to say. Now there has been tremendous effort by the anti hate speech people to ban speakers who are known white supremacist even in places which have been known earlier to have liberal attitude towards free speech. This is not how the democracy works, although some people may not agree with me on this one, but the best way to go about this is to allow what that person says and then decide if you like their speech or you don’t like it, banning ti will not solve the problem because in the age of internet, they will always find audience of their speech of hate. Let them speak out in the open as it is also their right to say what they want to say, provide counter argument to them and then move on.

Free Speech and hate speech

Now this is really tricky for me, as I am a big advocate of free speech but when a free speech does turns it into hate speech. And I am sure many people will find it hard to distinguish between the two. Let me see if I can differentiate between the two. Although some people believe that anybody can say anything at any time without any blowback or consequences but free speech do have its limits as long time ago Supreme Court case where the U.S. supreme court stated that you cannot yell fire in crowded theater and call it free speech as it will hurt lot of people. The same logic can apply today as words can hurt and incite violence as free speech can turn into hate speech which although some people will keep it at a speech level but there will be some who will turn free speech into a call to commit violence against people he or she may have not liked but was afraid to do anything about it earlier. And this same free speech some people who will grant themselves that privilege do not want to accord the same kind of freedom to people who under the guise of free speech preach violence in their hidden speeches and messages. And this exactly what happened when a march by alt-right white people who have come to Charlottesville to protest the pending removal of Robert Lee statue triggered an equally noisy counter demonstration and the violence that ensued became an unwanted distraction of what the issue was about.

On the lighter side-Movies-6 Days (2017)-Jamie Bell

A group of armed terrorist hold Iranian Embassy hostage in 1980 london while a trained gropu of forces prepare to storm the embassy. Okay movie, not much action though. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Power Rangers (2017)

A group of high school students gain super power strength to fight to save the world. Almost 60 percent of the movie was a slow moving drama and when the action came it was too short to retrieve the movie. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-A cure for Illness (2017)

A young employee is asked to retrieve the CEO of his company from a mysterious wellness center in Switzerland which is not what it seems. Although way too long, but I enjoyed the movie. Recommended with caution

The Statue controversy

In the wake of all the racism and injustices that has been going on in the United States, a favorite target has become the statue of different historical figures erected about several cities in the U.S. which are supposedly considered controversial or symbolizes the hatred that statue elicit or that person have done in the past. Due to this controversy, a case pending to demolish the statue of the Confederate Civil war leader Robert Lee erected in the town of Charlottesville, Virginia created quite violent showdown when a march by alt right white extremist group decided to protest the pending removal and march in the town. Obviously when passions are so much high, there is bound to be violence despite some calmer heads caller for restraint. In the wake of this controversial march, New York City also decided to look into the Christopher Columbus statue and other ones erected about the city. As this was not enough, some people decided that instead of celebrating Christopher Columbus day, they replaced it with indigenous people’s day. There has also been vandalism to the statues also. And naturally resentment would not stay only on one side of the controversy, both side are equally passionate about making sure the public hears only one side of the story. My take is that if majority of the people decide that the statues are not what they want, then they should be removed but if some of the people want to preserve history, the statues are just harmless pieces of clay which should remain there and if somebody don’t like it then they should ignore it while walking past them. There is no need to have the kind of violence that everybody saw in Charlottesville, VA and thing like this can be resolved much peacefully and democratically.

The Massacre in Las Vegas

A few weeks ago a supposedly mad man decided to initiate the worst mass murder in modern U.S. history by killing 58 people and injuring hundreds (I know I am late to the news). The events started when over thirty thousand fans jam packed an open air stadium for a country music festival and the mad man used his high powered weaponry to kill 58 people and injuring hundreds from his 32nd story window, ultimately killing himself when police approached his room in a hotel. Apparently after more than three weeks, there is still no motive found for his behavior. Some people think he is a mad man who did the unthinkable but I don’t think a mad man would install cameras in and outside his room to know who will be nearby his room. Reportedly he bought half a dozen weapons under the noses of the hotel staff to carry out his carnage. He also cannot be a mad man to make a fool out of every hotel staff member and carry out his evil act. Despite the Islamic extremist group assertion claim without providing any evidence that the killer and converted to Islam few months ago and was their soldier, the investigators have failed to find any link whatsoever. This massacre has again reignited debate about how easy is to get guns in the United States and issues about gun control (another post in the future I will write about). I felt so sorry to hear about the loss and there are no words to describe how it would have been at the time of the killings. But some people who thrive on conspiracy theories are at it again believe that the massacre never happened. To each his own, but for the people and their families who have been directly affected by it, it will be hard to imagine how their lives would would go on.

The over active Hurricane Season-2

Already under a burden of nearly 120 billion in debt obligations to creditors and to its own citizens, Hurricane Maria was not what they wanted. The entire U.S. territory lost power and still is 70 percent without power after one month of hurricane. Since the citizens of Puerto Rico are also U.S. citizens, most of them who had relatives in the mainland United States took the first opportunity to fly to mainland since the government is not sure when the lights will come back on and when life will return to some sort of normalcy. The territory was already losing its young population and with this hurricane, it will lose more. Although after every disaster there are claims to build it much better than before but with so much debt and already having declaring bankruptcy, I don’t know if private investors will lend money to a bankrupt U.S. territory unless the loaned money is backed by U.S. Treasury. The recent is that the recovery is ongoing with water and electricity being restored, airport is completely open now but the beaches are closed due to fear of water contamination from sewage water. The tourist industry is not up and running yet as most of the big hotels are closed for repair and without electricity, getting generators to work is not going to help long term. Although some of the restaurants are open but it is hard for them to cook as the ingredients are hard to come by. Although it will take years to bring normalcy back to Puerto Rico but who is going to predict that next year will be find and hurricane free, we do hope they recover but the threat of hurricane will always remain and they have to guard against that threat now more than ever.

The over active Hurricane Season

This Hurricane season which is about to end in 2017 has been the most active that I have seen for a long time. Hurricane Harvey came first with its devastating epic rains drowning out Houston with almost 52 inches of rain and also some parts of Louisiana. The federal government was in the process of helping the people there when another hurricane with category 4 winds came directly to hit Florida and Caribbean islands and if this was not enough Hurricane Maria wrapped up the devastation in Puerto Rico with a direct hit to it devastating the whole island and leaving the already bad infrastructure in even worse shape. South Florida especially the Florida keys were hit with high waves and lost power but now have quickly rebounded but still people of Houston and Florida will have a long road of recovery ahead as it will take many years to recover from the financial loss and emotional toll. And as if Hurricane Harvey was not enough then the Caribbean and Puerto Rico got hit first by Hurricane Irma and direct hit with Category 4 to several Caribbean islands and also Puerto Rico. The French island of St. Martin was in utter devastation and so were Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and also the two U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. John and also the British Virgin Islands. But the most impact was on Puerto Rico where Hurricane Maria had a direct hit and complete chaos ensued there as the whole infrastructure of the island which was already in deep trouble and in bad shape went into complete meltdown.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Mummy (2017) - Tom Cruise

An Egyptian mummy is brought back to life to create havoc on earth. Big budget reboot/remake of the previous movie with Brendan Frasier. Action packed. Just watch the action and ignore the story. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Waar (Strike-2013)-Pakistan

A former Pakistani army officer brought back from retirement to battle terrorists plotting a major attack. For a Pakistani movie, impressive actions but otherwise a normal action movie. Recommended for curiosity sake

On the lighter side-Movies-47 Meters Down (2017)-Mandy Moore

Two sisters are trapped in a steel cage at the bottom of the ocean in shark infested waters. Not enough horror but enough stupidity to go around. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Karate kill (2016-Japan/US)

A martial arts master comes to the U.S. to look for his sister. Martial arts mayhem ensues. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-1922 (2017)-Thomas Jane

A simple farmer in the year 1922 plots with this son to kill his wife in order to save his farm. Slow moving horror drama. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Travel-Intercourse, Pennsylvania-2

Since it was a beautiful day to be outside, the parking lot was already getting full by the time we reached there around on o’clock. I was so happy to find the place that I visited almost nine years ago, and although I do not remember some of the stores there, but I found some from whom I bought stuff before. Since we forget to buy water from pharmacy, the first thing we did was to go to an outside stand which was selling water, lemonade and other liquid items. My sister decided to get lemonade to quench her thirst. Since I did not get my coffee in the morning, I went to a local coffee shop and ordered a small French vanilla latte coffee and it was really delicious. We went to a nearby Amish store which sold homemade eatery times and then went to a souvenir shop nearby. We bought some magnets and when I was paying for the items, I put my coffee cup down to take out my wallet to pay for the items. and the two ladies attending the cash register said that the coffee smells really good and one of the them said that even though she does not like coffee but the smell of my coffee was really great. After browsing some other stores, we ate some delicious locally made ice cream. I told my sister that we us have buggy ride; she was not that keen as she was more excited about going to the outlet all in a nearby town. But I persuaded her to take the buggy ride as it was something different in the U.S., she relented and we bought tickets for the ride, we actually got a discount on the bigger duration ride. We started our journey on the buggy and went through open spaces and farmlands of Lancaster country full of corn crops as more buggies passed us by with some of their occupants waving at us. After the buggy ride, we decided to go to the outlet mall called tanger® outlets which are all over the United States. After browsing some stores, we started to drive back home and were able to reach home without any traffic.

On the lighter side-Travel-Intercourse, Pennsylvania

My elder sister was here for a visit from overseas and instead of taking her to mall, which she has done several times or going to the beach. I decided to take her to a place unique in the U.S.A in the heartland of the Amish country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is about 150 miles from my house in New Jersey so the driving time would be around two and a half hours including all the traffic, but including any road construction or accidents along the way. I had already been to the town called Intercourse but it was almost since years ago so I was also excited to see the place again. Leaving around 10 in the morning on Saturday, we started our journey but as usual we encountered road construction which reduced our speed considerably but we did not waste much time passing by construction and traveling towards our destination. When we reached Intercourse, I tried to find the same place where went before but since it has been almost nine years, I was having a hard time finding that place as Amish country encompasses several towns not too far from each other. It was a beautiful day and the crowds of people were everywhere. After getting back and forth on a road with several tows, I noticed open area thaw was more crowded than other places and then it hit me that I had seen the same place and I had already passed it before too. It is called Kitchen kettle village, as small area with almost 60 shops and restaurants and also buggy rides which were available in some other areas too.

Your call may be recorded for quality purposes

If you live in the United States and call the toll free number, you might of I should say definitely heard this on the phone before being connected to a real person. This phrase, I have been hearing for a long time and without saying yes or no I just wait to get connected to a real person and a while ago I started thinking that what kind of quality purpose the companies want to train their employees on and it hit me that it was more for their own legal protection duh! So dumb not to figure it out before. The companies want to record not for quality purposes but in case something goes wrong, they will have your call recording as evidence in the courts. This message is so prevalent that you cannot get pass through it and there is no choice of either opting out or opting in. you have to listen to it in order to talk to the company representative. I may be wrong about it but very few recordings are done for quality purposes and most are done for evidence as explained above. Since presenting evidence is so crucial in court cases nowadays that even your voice can be us used to incriminate you in case you deny that you did not call or it was not you. I wonder how long your conversation is kept on file of the companies but this what we have all to deal with in this age and time.

Once a Luxury, now a necessity

Few would have envisioned how the future would be and what it will hold. Things that were once considered a luxury and not needed by the middle class families have not become a necessity that people cannot live without. Take for example the most common item nowadays, cell phone, which was not too long ago considered a luxury, is now a necessity of such immense proportions that the recent generation of kids don’t even know how their parents and grandparents functioned without it. And cell phone is one of the unique items that is readily and easily available to everybody and if not then some people make sure to have it even sacrificing some other luxuries in their lives to afford it. Same thing has started to happen with streaming services that people cannot live without and internet without which people sometimes have withdrawal systems if they are not on it for even one day. Likewise, goes for two day shipping or even same day shipping services, high end coffee and other items of once luxury items that have now been adopted as being a necessity and people become a bit surprised when they ask somebody who does not have that so called “ necessity” item that how can they function without it. As more and more people adopt items that were once considered a luxury into necessity, nobody knows what the current items of luxury will turn into items which people will find it essential to have it out of necessity.

The Qatar-Arab Conflict-2

After stating their demands, the four Arab nations have now said that it is okay if Qatar does not close down Al-Jazeera network and does not expel the supposed terrorists in their country but the boycotting nations still insist that Qatar must accept their demands otherwise more sanctions will be imposed. Now let us breakdown what is going on, the Al-Jazeera network is a problem with other countries because it shows stuff that other nations don’t want their citizens to know, so it is a problem with the authoritative regimes. The decision of Qatar to host members of some organizations is also an issue which is not receptive to the boycotting countries. Downgrading or completing breaking away from Iran is another issue since Qatar shares a gas field with Iran so it is may not be feasible unless Qatar sells the gas field to Iran and then break off relations (just my speculation). The most intriguing objection is the closing down of Turkish military base. Turkey, despite objects from the four Arab nations has been building and moving troops to Qatar military base and it is not to the liking of Saudi Arabia and its boycotting allies. I don’t know why that is since Qatar also hosts the biggest U.S. Military base in the Gulf. Why do they only insist on closing down the Turkish base but not the other foreign bases in the country? Although Qatar, reportedly the wealthiest country in the world with substantial foreign exchange reserves, can withstand the embargo and sanctions imposed on it but it is debatable whether it will be able to withstand long term. As of this writing, the standoff still continues.

The Qatar-Arab Conflict

To me, it was an unexpected conflict that has occurred between the Persian Gulf nation as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have accused Qatar of supporting things that are in conflict with their own likings. After keep quiet for a time, the above mentioned countries sent Qatar 13 demands, out of which the major ones were, stop supporting terrorists’ organizations, close Al-Jazeera network, close down the Turkish military bases and downgrade or complete break relations with Iran. And in order to enforce these demands, they have closed borders with Qatar and imposed other sanctions. IT all started with Saudi Arabia imposing sanctions and you already know that United Arab Emirates and tiny Bahrain will follow suit. Egypt being the largest recipient of Saudi Aid had to follow, although it has its own issues with Qatar supporting Muslim Brotherhood organization which opposes the Egyptian government. To me, the most surprising aspect was all the states involved are Sunni states or are ruled by Sunni rulers. And Qatar is also a member of a regional group called Gulf Cooperation Council, a group, dominated by Saudi Arabia, is planning to expel Qatar if their demands are not met. The United States and Kuwait has tried to use their influence to defuse the escalating tensions but have not succeeded thus far. And Qatar is not ready to budge from tis stance as it deems these tactics as bullying a small neighbor. And by the recent statements from United Arab Emirates, this conflict will not be resolved soon.

The New York City’s proposal for a Millionaire’s Tax-2

So let me breakdown how much does the so called Millionaire if as mentioned earlier starting at 500k annually actually get to take home. Please note that all figures are approximate and rounded to make it easier to come to a round figure. Federal tax comes out to the maximum 39.5 percent in addition to the New York state tax of 6.85 and New York City tax of around 3.5 percent. Rounding all this comes to around 50 percent but if you put the total amount of tax including the Medicare and unemployment tax the amount comes you are paying is around 295k, which leaves you around 200kj to take home and play around. And the taxes don’t even stop here since everything is taxed a certain sales tax rate of 8.875 percent on clothes, shoes, food from restaurants and anything that the city can get their hands on the hard working rich people of new York city. Since these so called rich people make so much money, they would like to have at least on vacation per year and also have some entertainment time to themselves, plus maintaining the house where you have to pay utilities and mortgages and you end up with around maybe 150k or even less than that. My point here is not to garner any sympathy for the so called rich class, but to give you an idea that 500k is not much of a salary in a very expensive city and before everybody jumps into the bandwagon of taxing the rich, first you need to understand what and who should be considered rich in new York city.

The New York City’s proposal for a Millionaire’s Tax

Recently a proposal is being floated around to tax millionaires to fund the aging New York transit system. Although the tax is being called millionaire’s tax but the figure which is being proposed is anybody earning from USD500k and above will be taxed. Although it has been floated around before it was a no show in the New York State assembly and Congress but the aging New York city transit system needs funds and anything to tax the rich will be popular and easy money to get the city’s hands on without jeopardizing the electoral votes of the common people. I am not a millionaire, not even anything close to even six figures but this proposal is so incorrect with the realities of paying taxes that no wonder the New York State assembly keeps on ignoring it wherever it comes up even in casual conversation. Let’s break it down for folks who think 500k is a large amount in New York city, although I will agree on one thing that if the median income is 69k which is not a lot by any standards if you are living in New York city where sometimes to breathe is taxed as being resident of new York, the idea of somebody earning 500k evokes jealously, envy and sometimes hatred enough that anything that can hart the so called rich is welcome news to the masses who are struggling. But even the so called rich can struggle in this consistently one of the most expensive cities in the world not to mention in the United States too.

The Removal of the Prime Minister of Pakistan

As another Prime Minister of Pakistan has been removed from office one year before his completion of this five year tenure due to corruption, another tumultuous set of events have fallen this unfortunate country, as it is again mire in crises. The country is fine as is but the people funning it have ruined it to the ground. Corruption has been the main sourced of problem and has dodged every government for the last forty years or so. The powerful military has government this c country for nearly half of its seventy years of existence and the rest has been pulling strings of the civilian government who have to constantly look behind their shoulders to make sure they are not overthrown by them. And now is not the time for another Martial law, as the Supreme Court has taken the upper hand to see to it that the Prime ministers do not stay in office to complete their term of five years. As people of Pakistan who were sick and tired of hearing the everyday stories of the corrupt elites of the country, this is welcome relief to them, but plunges the country into uncertainty as the opposition is not without corrupt members in them. As the ruling party whose ministers all stand disqualified not struggle to make sense of what has happened to them, the foreign investors will be taking a nervous look at the uncertain future and Western powers look increasingly concerned for the future of this nuclear armed country.

The Russian overload

Since the new U.S. Administration came, it has been plagued by any and everything related to Russia. Be it election meddling or meeting with Russian officials during the election campaign, I am now simply having a Russian fatigue. Not a day goes by when Russia is not in the news, be it in the President’s son-in-law meeting with Russian officials or his son meeting with them or his staff’s connection to the Russian government, the investigations are being done on multiple levels. The most serious allegations are the collusion of the Russians meddling in the U.S. election to help elect Mr. Trump to the White house and the republicans despite the pressure of the U.S. President are pressing on with their investigation sin this supposedly meddling. Recently the U.S congress passed a veto proof laws to put more sanctions on Russia on the perceived meddling in the elections. I don’t know how long these investigations will last and what would be the ultimate result but it has definitely paralyzed the new U.S. administration since its start. I have never seen so much obsession with Russian since the end of the Cold War. It seems that ongoing investigations seem to find out if the Russian meddled in the elections and if they did, to make sure it does not happen again and the second aim is to see if the current U.S. President was helped by this alleged meddling. Whatever the outcome, these investigations will continue to cast an unwelcoming shadow on the works of the new U.S. administration.

Legalizing Marijuana

Recently a U.S. Senator from New Jersey said that he is sponsoring a bill to make Marijuana legal in all states but knows that the passable of bill in the Congress is slim to none. His argument in support of the legalization is that the criminality of Marijuana is affecting more minorities and people of color than whites and he wants to decriminalize Marijuana so that minorities are not arrested for carry small amounts of it. As will all people, I do not agree with this bill as it will still affect the minorities more than the majority. Why a State representative in the U.S. Senate would want to table such a bill when he knows that (or maybe knows) that it will affect his own constituents where drugs are already prevalent (even though he may think Marijuana is not a drug). People on drugs are already getting treatment in state supported treatment centers which are paid by tax payers, and he wants to increase the number of people in those treatment cents. What about people who are high on Marijuana decides to drive their cars and crash them in the state of highness? Who is going to pay for all the damage and loss of life if any in case of such accidents? The U.S. has enough problems with opioids and alcohol addiction and now adding Marijuana will create more problems. And if this legislation is such a great piece of bill that we have solved all 9our problems then why do we have to stop at Marijuana, why discriminate against other drugs and opioids? Just make every drug legal using the same argument as above and let everybody who can afford it can get high anywhere and anyplace and at any time so that the drug problem as we have it in the U.S. can be solved easily. I don’t think this bill makes any sense whatsoever in any shape and form and there are other pressing problems than to make everybody a junkie.

Refusing to serve a customer

Recently there was an incidence in a coffee and ice cream shop where two cops were refused service and were told by one of the clerks that he does not serve cops. There was an outrage over this as the owner of the shop tried to play things down and apologize stating that the layout of the shop was confusing and there must been a misunderstanding in this whole situation. Although the cops are not buying this story about what the owner said and I think they are right. This is not the first instance that copes have been denied service by a food shop as the climate of hostility towards law enforcement is at very high right now. I can understand that some of the cops may have not upheld the best of the behavior that their uniform demands and for which they have been trained for but you cannot blame the entire police force for the misconduct of the few. For a scenario, how would it feel if the same people who refused service to cops need them for something legal, like a break in or a accident or just calling 911 of for protection, how would they feel if the cops say that they do not want to serve fast food people (it has mostly been in the fast food industry that is why I am bringing them up) because they had bad experience with them or whatever reason they can come up with. A customer is a customer and if you are in the business of face to face contact with them, you should keep your political and personal vies our of your place of employment or be prepared to be served with the same kind of response down the road. Because as the saying goes karma is a bitch (excuse my language had to put it out like it is)

The Healthcare bill see saw

I have been keenly reading the back and forth that the U.S. Republican Party has been doing in case of their healthcare bill. Since it was passed a few years ago, the rhetoric on the Republican side has been that they hate the bill and as soon as they gain majorities in both the houses of Congress plus the White House, they will repeal it right away. Even the Republican Candidate for the Presidency had said that it will be repealed within hours or a day or so as soon as he is elected and now it has been more than six months and the healthcare bill (also known as Obamacare) is still intact as the Republicans keep on oscillating between repeal and replace then repeal then again repeal and replace and every time some of their members oppose the bill and thus they come up short on votes to repeal the healthcare bill The reality is that the replacement bill that the Republicans are proposing is being done in haste just for the hatred of the old bill and also the scenario that tens of millions of people who have gained insurance through Obamacare will lose it in the Republican version of the bill and the now the Republicans don’t even have enough votes to repeal the bill and replace it later with their version. The President is not happy and he should be as the Republicans were making a hue and cry about their opposition to Obamacare but for three years the Republicans did not sit down and hashed out a bill in case they will both the houses and the White House. They should just face it that they were not prepared and only when they are under pressure, are trying to get their own version which is much more flawed than the one they are trying t co replace in haste.

Acid Attacks in London, England

Recently there were around six acid attacks within a span of ninety minutes and a teenager has been caught and has been indicted in London. Although, thankfully, it has not been related to a terrorist attack but still it is a dangerous incident which should be dealt seriously. I thought that the acid attacks were phenomena only in South Asian countries like Pakistan and India where there has been several attacks on women refusing advances from men and have acid thrown on their faces in revenge. As I read about the acid attacks in London. I was surprised that these types of incidents have increased recently. I am afraid that copycat attacks may occur since it is so much easier to get acids in retail stores, as they are found in everyday household items. Although, not labeled as a terrorist attack, it has all the hallmarks of being a terrorist attack as the purpose was to terrorize people even if the motive of the attacks were unclear. London used to one of the safest cities in the world and it seems that way as most of the cops patrolling the streets do no carry guns but the way things are going, it is not far that most of the copes would be required to carry guns. The weapon of choice in the London attacks is so easily available that it makes me shudder to think if the terrorists get this kind of idea than the use of guns by them will be useless and this easily available household item will become a weapon of choice for them. I pray that time may never come

On the lighter side-Movies-Panzehir (Antidote-Turkish 2014)

A hit man poisoned by his mob boss tries to take a bloody revenge his last night in this surprising Turkish action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Kung Fu Yoga (2016-HK)-Jackie Chan

Two professors try to locate a treasure. Action and comedy galore. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Sing (2016)-Animated

In an animal world, an animal tries to save his theater by staging up a singing contest which becomes the talk of the town. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The boss baby (2017)-Animated

A suit wearing baby reluctantly teams up with his older brother to thwart the evil design of a CEO of a company. A different kind of animated movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Before I fall (2017)

A dead girl seeks the mystery about her reliving her last day over and over again. Sweet entertaining movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Okinawa Yakuza War (1975)-Japan-Shin’ichi Chiba

Brutal and bloody battle rages between Okinawa and mainland gangsters. Okay action movie. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Message from the king (2017)-Chadwick boseman

A stranger comes from South Africa comes to the United States to find his missing sister. Sometimes brutal and violent but a good movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Shin Godzilla (2016-Japan)

Japan fights a giant lizard named Godzilla in this remake/reboot of the famous franchise. Recommended with caution

The Bona fide relationship immigration qualification

After the revised travel ban which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court with the modification that the people of the six banned Muslim nations can come to the U.S. if they had certain “bona fide relationship” with someone or some entity close enough with which they have established a relationship. Included in it were also people who have obtained visas from employers in the U.S. plus student visa holders and other relationships. But it left the interpretation of the bona fide relationship to the government to define it. And the government defined it in the narrowest terms possible which included husbands, spouses, children, step children, fiancé, siblings but curiously excluded grandparents, sister and brother in laws, aunts and uncles and cousins to say the least. I do not understand how they came up with the definition of the bona fide relationship but now a federal judge in Hawaii has expanded the definition to include the excluded members of the family (already overturned by the Supreme court and the battle has raged on since). I don’t know who came up with this but to me grandparents are really more important than step children and fiancé who are not your blood relations and who have not established any relationship with their step parents and fiancés, while grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins are blood relatives who are already there from day one. This is my definition of a bona fide relationship and I believe that everybody has their own definition of it and the Supreme Court should have defined it explicitly instead of leaving it to the interpretation of various people who are in charge of immigration policies.

On the lighter side-John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)-Keenu Reeves

He is back in another super action packed movie as John Wick tries to help a friend and repay his debt and in turn gets a bounty on his head. Highly recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-HeadShot (2016)-Indonesian

An amnesiac is saved by a nurse and he recovers his memory in time for some extremely violent and brutal martial arts action. Highly recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Close Range (2015)-Scott Adkins

An ex soldier fights with drug lord and corrupt police to protect his sister and her daughter. Usual action mayhem. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Blood Hunters (2016)

A single woman winds up in a hospital not know how she landed there and how she got pregnant. Slow moving and unexciting horror movie. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Carver (2008)

Five campers went to a mountain retreat and encounters killers in this graphic and violent horror movie. Recommended with caution

The North Korean situation-2

Now the West and its allies are thinking about putting more sanctions on the North Korean regime and I don’t believe it will make any difference. The Russians and the Chinese will surely reject this outright and the biggest hindrance is China with whom the North Korean have 90 percent of the trade. China fears that if North Korea regime falls, it will have to deal with hundreds and thousands of North Korean on its border and it will have to divert more armed forces to that border. Other thing is that unification with the South Korea will make a more powerful neighbor who will have the backing of the U.S. In these circumstances, it is not surprising that China is clearly helping the North Korean with the parts and knowhow needed to build the nuclear technology as a nation supposedly on the brink of starvation cannot do it alone and still be belligerent about its ambition to strike the U.S. And now the latest is that North Korea has launched a missile capable of reaching some major cities of the U.S. and I don’t see any urgency on the part of the Western world to do anything about but to condemn such action and show some concern. I don’t see any concern that the threat of North Korean nuclear and missile program is as great as that of Iranian threat. It is time now to put pressure on the Chinese to curtail their support of the North Korean regime as the cost of not doing anything and only condemning each time is not working.

The North Korean situation

While the west and the U.S. were totally obsessed with a nonexistent Iranian nuclear threat (which has now be supposedly contained) and religiously trying to protect their allies in the Middle East, the world completely ignored what was happening in North Korea. Iranian threat was more of rhetoric but now that the North Korean have supposedly launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching Alaska and Hawaii, the U.S. has no options remaining in order to deal with them. They were trying to put pressure on the Chinese to force the North Korean to behave but it was a futile exercise. This I don’t understand, a country which has been portrayed as being on the brink of starvation and cut off from the rest of the world, develop nuclear bombs and ballistic technology and there is nothing the west and its allies can do but watch with helplessness. While the nuclear deal with Iran was done with the permanent United Nations members plus Germany and with threat of a U.S. attack, no such deal seems to be on the table with North Korea which seems to be a far great threat to the U.S. than Iran ever will be. The west and U.S. has secured its allies in the Middle East with the so called Iranian Nuclear deal but who will come to the rescue of the United States if the North Korea launches a nuclear strike in Hawaii or Alaska GOD forbid. I think that the West was so much consumed with the Iranian threat and were literally arrogant with the North Korean threat or maybe they thought that the Chinese will take care of the North Koreans, that they never thought that the day will come when the North Koreans will become a threat to the West world and its allies (Minus the Middle Eastern ones)

The change in Saudi Arabia

The world got a surprise when the king of Saudi Arabia elevated his son to the post of crown prince, removing his nephew from the post who was instrumental in containing and fighting the menace of terrorism in the kingdom. Now the aging king pushed aside his nephew and elevated his young rising son to the post of Crown Prince. The new Prince was already making friends with President Trump of the U.S. and his senior adviser, his son in law and also is the architect to wean the Saudi Economy away from oil dependency to non oil revenue by a policy called vision 2030 opening up the Saudi market to foreign investment and selling some shares in the Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco. Although denied by the official Saudi sources, it has been reported that the new Prince is quietly quashing dissent by some of the elder princes and some of the purge is going on with the former crown prince loyalists. Although, news about palace intrigue is being controlled tightly but some news does come out. Anyway, the New Prince is also being reportedly behind the Yemen and Syrian war and is being aggressive on many foreign fronts, but a fresh blood was needed in the Saudi regime as the old ultra conservative people were looked as hurdles to the ambitions of the young Princes who have been educated in the Western world and want to bring foreign investment and technology to the kingdom. We will see how this clash of the old and the new guard plays out in determining the future of the Kingdom which is a very crucial partner of the west and Arab world’s largest economy.

Time Management

Recently the state of Maine and New Jersey had a budget crisis serious enough to close down the whole state for both of them. Since I live in New Jersey, I will talk about the budget crisis that has been thankfully resolved after a three days pass and now the state recreational facilities and all non essential state institutions will open once again. During the closure of all non essential state institutions including Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) , I read complaints on the internet such as some people license or registration was expired and they went to renew it and found out that the offices of DMV were closed and people were upset about it since they could not renew their documents. Other thing that I read was that some of the people just went to the offices and found out there that the departments are closed due to state budget crisis and they were surprised that they did not read it and here I was surprised by how ignorant and ill informed choose to be. I don’t know if the people are so busy that every waking and sleeping moment of their lives they care only about their lives or just lazy enough that they want to do everything at the last moment. The registration and renewal of vehicle licenses are not sent out two or three days ago that people don’t get the chance to do it. They are sent out two months before they expire to give people ample enough time to do it. If they have not done it, it is not the state’s fault that you did not renew it and also life is so unpredictable that things should be done way ahead of it, if you can really do it. Another thing is that people really are not that well informed or even informed about what is happening around them that they are surprised when they find out something which has been in the news for a long time. And then the people say, we are falling behind other nations in terms of knowledge and information.

Vacation and Jobs

The magic word vacation, who would not want to have a vacation all the time, I mean it is fun to be away from work for a few days or few weeks trying to relax and not think about your co workers and your bosses and just unpleasantness of working in a closed environment. But every time that I have asked someone about their vacation, they say that had a fabulous time, but the time was too short, like when they say that weekend was great but it was too short. Most U.S. companies provide their employees two weeks of vacation per year with some three weeks per year as the starting point. So with these two or three weeks, it looks like the vacation time is short as compared to European countries. But the job provides you with the means and the money to finance your vacation. But when you do have the time, then you don’t have the means to finance your vacation. I am talking about when you unemployed, you have all the time in the world to go on vacation while still searching for a job but you don’t have the financial means and the mental stability to fulfill your wish to go on vacation for as long as possible since you are unable to sustain vacation even for trips that does not require air travel because the hotel accommodation is enough to bust your budget even when you have a job. A catch-22 situation indeed.

I don’t want to listen to your music

I usually ride the train whenever I need to go to the city and then walk around to my destination. Sometimes the train is quiet enough that you can catch a shut eye if you find a seat or just be yourself but most of the time, there will be one of two person who are listening to music which is loud enough to distract you from what you are doing. Some people are really annoying enough to blast their music so as to sound some cool person. I see it as being annoying class of human beings who think we should all be sharing his passion of music like we are his or her captive audience. And it is not only on the train but sometimes on the streets; some person will be walking by blasting his music or some car cranking the music up so that he or she can share what kind of obnoxious music they are listening. One can listen to all the music they want without blasting it through their ears and into the whole damn train, where you become the only object of dislike just because you choose to blast your music and provide free music to the unwilling and captive audience. It is not just a form of torture that they put you through but also in the long run damages your ear drums which I believe they don’t really care. In the end I don’t really care if you listen to classical music or some other kind, keep the music to yourself and volume down enough so that we the other people, who are already cranky from traveling, can have some peace and quiet for a few minutes with the people whom we would not like to travel but are forced to due to our circumstances.

Tattoo and Jobs

I had an interesting listening to some of the people who are have tattoo on their bodies but they have to hide it when they have to interview, attend a meeting or go to some formal occasion. It is the same conservative environment that despite all the changes still regard tattoo as being some of gang related or rebellious thing. Same thing goes for piercing. But as for some piercing you can take off during interviews or some formal occasion, it is harder for a person with a tattoo to take it off without some surgical procedure which can be painful, expensive and leave some scars behind. I really don’t see anything wrong with having tattoos even when you are going for an interview, although I do say that it can be distracting to the interviewer. But if I was interviewing someone, I would not mind if they have tattoos on their body. But here I would say that if the tattoo is on your face which is more prominent and on the whole parts of your arms and your neck, I would be a little bit hesitant to interview that person and may be even distracted by it. It is not that I would judge him on the basis of tattoo, it will be a just a little bit of distracting to me. A few tattoos here and there is fine as it does not hinder the person ability to do their job or distract others from doing their job, but when you are awash with tattoos and they only thing you see are the tattoos, your interview will not go so well as the person interviewing will keep on thinking about what the tattoos mean and why and under what circumstances he went for it.

The killing of a Muslim Teen-2

The problem with this case is that there were 15 teenagers who obviously have cell phones with them, why did not one of them call police and why did they run back to the mosque to alert their elders while not making sure everybody was safe? Why this group of 15 teenagers did not or could not handle one male with a baseball bat and why did they had the mentality of everybody for himself and ran away, especially the boy who had an argument with the suspect. If they were in a group, they knew each other so what kind of friends abandons their friend in need. The mosque as a community gathering was I believe not able to instill a sense of belonging to a community and it seems the kids were being coerced to attend the all night session. The father of the teen killed believes that it was a hate crime, which I have my doubts because there were nine girls in the group and he could have mowed down some of the girls, but it is not my opinion here. Nobody has asked the teens about the above mentioned relevant questions and it seems that the coward teens just abandon their friend. This just shows that the sense of belonging in a Muslim community is just a myth and when it comes to dangerous situation, the first instinct will be abandon and run. I am just surprised that a group of fifteen teens could not handle a man and did not use their cell phones to call for help while in happier situations, the same teens will record every silly antics and update their status every minute but in this crucial time had their brain frozen. I do hope that the remaining teens would be able to live to regret the events of that night but I have my serious doubts about it.

The killing of a Muslim Teen

Recently in the last week of Ramadan (the Muslim religious month where the Muslims fast from dawn to dusk) a Muslim teenager was killed in Virginia by a Hispanic male who turns out to be living illegally in the country (which I believe is totally irrelevant to the crime). Although I don’t usually write about the criminal actions as it is an everyday occurrence and if I started to do that my whole blog will be about the crimes, but somehow this case attracted my attention. I am not conspiracy theorists, although sometimes I acknowledge that with the sheer amount of evidence and doubt that the conspiracy theorists provide, it is hard not to believe their logic. But back to my post, as I was saying this case was interesting in the sense that the Teen was wearing a hijab and was killed by a Hispanic man and so the Muslim community, including the teen’s family was demanding that the case be tried as a hate crime, while the Police insisted it was a road rage incident, which was gone bad. The killing went like this, a group of around 15 teens including five boys, went to a local restaurant late night around three and during their trip to the restaurant one of the boys had an argument with the driver of a vehicle and the driver out of rage took out a metal baseball bat and chased the kids and ultimately got hold of the girl and kidnapped the girl and reportedly assaulted her and killed her. While the boys ran to the nearby mosque to alert their elders, who came out to search and found out that the said girl was missing.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Assignment (2016) - Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver (2016)

A hit man seeks revenge when he is transformed surgically into a woman. Action movie with good actors but not worth the time. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Railroad Tigers (2016)-Hong Kong-Jackie Chan

A railroad worker leads freedom fighters against Japanese forces in this latest Jackie Chan action comedy. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Enter the Warrior’s Gate (2016-Canada-French)

A teenager who loves video games is transported magically to China where he uses his video gaming skills to master martial arts and fight evil. Recommended with caution.

On the job training

Since many companies are now complaining that they don’t have enough people to fill their jobs and those they have do not match the skills they want, would it not be a practical idea that there should be some sort of on the job training. Instead of this, the companies are clamoring to bring in cheap foreigner to do their job while the U.S. citizens are still looking for jobs. And since I am still looking for a job and interviewing, I have noticed that companies are still trying to look for that perfect candidate who they can hire and provide the least amount of training so that the seat left vacant by the departing employee is not disrupted at all. Sometimes they find it and sometimes the search goes on for months on end. The companies are reluctant to give potential employees on the job training but as my experience tells it , all the jobs require some kind of training since every companies culture wise is different and their style of working is also different. Sometimes I do understand the reluctance of the companies to provide training and sometimes I don’t. And as everybody knows the current U.S. President has had no experience in running for office (as readily acknowledged and documented by many) or having not elected to public office once, the U.S. electors still elected him. So if the U.S. voters (and I will assume many corporate executives) have elected a President who is having an on the job training, so I don’t see any reason not to have on the job training in companies who own revenues are miniscule compared to the U.S. government.

The Puerto Rican vote

Recently there was a vote for the future of Puerto Rico and it was not the first one to decide whether Puerto Rico will become a state, keep the status quo of being a territory of the United States or just gain independence. And the vote was in favor of seeking Statehood but since only twenty percent (according to some estimates) voted in the non binding election, the result could be called dubious and not reliable at best. This voting was done I believe out of sheer desperate situation that Puerto Rican is now in. And I have also read that there may be another voting on coming on this choice again. Puerto Rico is in a huge debt trap to the tune of more than 50 billion dollars and can’t raise money to retire it since they are mostly lost access to the capital markets. Apart from this, the citizens of that territory have lost faith in their state and since they are citizens of the United States, more and more Puerto Ricans are choosing to leave the state to move to the mainland. And as such, the tax base to fund the budget of Puerto Rico is shrinking. And unless the U.S. Congress agrees to the non binding resolution of at least consider the process of starting the Statehood process, which I don’t see it happening in the current U.S. administration, no amount of votes and election to make it a state, which most people are not in favor of, will change the fortune of Puerto Rico. The only way is to create enough revenue so that Puerto Rico can refinance its debt and buy some time to raise funds from the capital markets while it sorts out its mess with the help of the U.S. government

On the lighter side-Movies-The Lego Batman Movie (2017)-Animated

A loner batman reluctantly accepts a sidekick and help Gotham city fight evil. Highly enjoyable. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Life (2017)-Jake Gyllenhaal

A life form brought on a spaceship threatens the existence of its inhabitants. Claustrophobic but credible science fiction movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Altitude (2017)-Denise Richards, Dolph Lundgren

A plane is hijacked so that a thief can escape in this shaky action movie with good actors but it has been done several times before. Not Recommended

Freedom of Speech Limitations

Freedom of Speech is guaranteed by the 1st amendment to the U.S. constitution in the bill of rights. But that does not mean you can just say anything and think you can get away with it. As one of the U.S. Supreme court many decades ago, you cannot yell Fire! in a crowded theater and claim it to be free speech because there can be deadly consequences for it. Nowadays it seems like Freedom of speech has taken on a whole new meaning and adversaries. In some so called liberal campuses of the Nation’s universities, the students have been vocal enough not to allow conservative speakers to come and address in their universities and in essence stifling the very freedom of speech which the students think the students is their right but they have less tolerance when conservative and ultra nationalists want to speak their mind. On the other hand, the people who do not like the current U.S. President have gone out of their way even to considering supposedly harming the president while trying to hide behind free speech. I know there are people who don’t like the current administration but whatever is the case, he was elected by the majority of people and the election was not considered fraudulent (whatever people otherwise think about it). So despite their apparent displeasure, it is still considered disrespectful to publicly called for harming the President and then realize that the people saying this did not mean it when they are faced with a backlash. One can always put their point across without harming or threatening to harm someone and in the case of the U.S. President, people no matter how much they despise the policies of the current administration should not cross the line and disrespect the Presidency of the United States. As I said before, there is a limit to Free speech and sometimes it is just appropriate not to cross that line and just keep your views to yourself

On the lighter side-Movies-Lucid Dream (2017)-Korea

A journalist tries to find his kidnapped son through the technique of lucid dream. Engaging and entertaining movie. Recommended

The IT outsourcing industry in turmoil-2

Another thing is work ethics as the people in the U.S. want to work tightly on schedule while in India it is a laid back environment. Even if people are working as hard as possible, the remoteness of their outsourced work can affect the quality and end result of work. In the relentless effort to squeeze every dollar out of any savings they can get, this outsourcing trend ends up costing much anguish and anxiety to the people who work with them. But who gives a shit about the U.S. workers when outsourcing is all the rage. I have not travelled mostly on the east coast of the U.S. but reading much about the U.S. I am a staunch believer that outsourcing can be done in the U.S. easily but little bit more expensive. Also in order to ensure that the people in India or any outsourcing center overseas are working to the U.S. specifications, people from the U.S. travel to these places and stay in expensive hotels for weeks on end. So the expenses of monitoring work overseas negates all the expenses incurred in outsourcing the work and if something goes wrong in regards to compliance which does happen, then the fines imposed on them just makes it more meaningless to outsource work. The quality of work created by outsourcing does not justify the amount paid by U.S. companies as the U.S. workers get ripped off with lower quality work for the same amount of work. Hopefully as the new U.S. president raises the cost on outsourcing companies, the domestic based companies will have to find work in the U.S. where there are plenty of people willing to work.

The IT outsourcing industry in turmoil

During the U.S. Presidential campaign, the current President announced that he will restrict the IT immigration visa that is the life line for hundreds of thousands of IT outsourcing companies mostly in India. At that time, there was no way to know that the current U.S. President will win the election. But after his win, things have started to change, even when there is a hint of restricting the H1B Visa for IT companies, the stocks of some of the major Indian Outsourcing companies have gone down and they have been forced to reevaluate their strategy of hiring more U.S. based workers. Since Indian Outsourcing companies get almost 60 percent of their business from the U.S. according to some report, it is natural that they would be affected. And besides these forces out of their control, another thing that I have read is that automation and the new emerging technology of artificial intelligence (A.I) will also have a massive effect on their revenues if they don’t change fast enough from their outsourcing strategy. I had the privilege or you can say the unfortunate opportunity to see the fiasco that outsourcing has been doing to companies both U.S. and foreign. If done right, outsourcing can be good like in the case of clothing and manufacturing but financial outsourcing which the U.S. and foreign companies have done lately is nothing much but a major pain in the ass. With time difference between the U.S. east coast and India in the winter and fall season to 10 hours and in the summer and spring to 9 hours it just becomes a major headache to race ahead to finish your work according to different time schedules.

The Islamic Military Alliance-2

Afghanistan, which has also been hit by terrorists’ activities, is another case in point. Afghanistan has already NATO forces in the country but will it allow the Muslim NATO to come in and fight terrorism, I don’t think so. Egypt is the same, as it battles ISIS inspired groups will not allow Muslim NATO to come to their country. There has also been no mention of how many troops each country will provide and how many weapons they will set aside for this venture. What are the criteria of settling disputes among member nations? The recent spat with Qatar and some gulf states and their supporters is a case in point. The alliance has not even started yet and the members are fighting among themselves. The citizens of the countries who have joined in have no clue what it is all about. Making it an anti Iranian alliance will not help them bit because if they read their history they have been there all along. I am talking about the time when there was the Iran-Iraq war for eight years and all the Arab and Muslim countries and the western alliance supported the Iraqi regime and still the so called anti Iran alliance could not do much damage to the Iranian revolution. So calling it a Muslim NATO or some weird and laughable name when most of the countries defense budgets are negligible and they have their own problems at home will not make the alliance any stronger or threatening.